Calculator
by Misanagi
Summary: Part of the 'College not an arc' Series. Trowa gets to spend some time in Quatre's part of campus.


**Calculator**

**By Misanagi**

Rating: PG/ K+

Pairing: 3x4

Summary: Sequel to "Number Lovers and Bookworms". Trowa gets to spend some time in Quatre's part of campus.

Warnings: AU, College fic.

Archive: Gundanium Line

Word Count: 633

Notes: Written for the gw500 community on LJ for Challenge #67: Element.

Thanks a lot to Anne for the beta.

* * *

Trowa Barton fidgeted in his chair. He raised his eyes slowly and dared to look around him. There were still some people looking at him, even though most had lost interest. Trowa wasn't someone easily intimidated but he was definitely out of his element, and having so many people staring at him was unsettling.

The gray and silent study hall wasn't making any things better. People weren't exactly quiet but their words were only a low murmur. Trowa was used to the garden outside the Literature department, where students and teachers gathered to talk in a normal tone of voice. Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his mind from those thoughts and focus on his book.

"What's wrong?" Quatre had stopped his work and he was staring at Trowa. The tip of his pencil was still over the paper, as if he had stopped in mid-writing. Quatre's companions looked at them for a moment and then continued working on whatever it was they were doing.

They were the reason Trowa was stuck in the gray study hall of the Finance department on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. Quatre had to work on a project with two other students he didn't know very well, and they had decided to get together in the university so that no one had to go to the other's house. That in itself was something Trowa couldn't understand. His group projects normally included a house, pizza, beer and friends. He couldn't understand how Quatre could be forced to team up with someone he barely knew. Since Trowa and Quatre were going to the movies later today, Trowa decided to wait for Quatre, keep him company, and use the time to catch up with some reading. However, Trowa's plan wasn't working very well.

"I need a calculator," Trowa muttered.

Quatre dropped the pencil, and turned his upper body so he was facing Trowa. "What?"

"A calculator. It's like a club's jacket here," Trowa affirmed.

Quatre just stared at him with a blank expression. "You're being weird."

"The university is divided in two," said Trowa. "There's the ninety-seven percent who carry calculators in their backpacks, and there is the very exotic three percent who doesn't. You are part of the larger group." Trowa pointed at Quatre's calculator, resting over the table next to his equation papers and the pencil. "As you can see, this is calculator territory." He used his head to signal all the people working quietly around him, all with calculators on their tables. "Yet here I am; a calculator free student who even had the audacity to be reading Dostoyevsky instead doing mathematical operations." Trowa put his hand over his open book to emphasize his point.

Blinking a couple of times, Quatre lifted his backpack from the floor. After looking inside for a moment he took out a calculator and smirked. "Here, I have a spare."

Trowa didn't growl often. Actually, it was a form of communication he reserved for very selected occasions, but since Quatre came to his life Trowa seemed to be growling more often. He glared at Quatre for good measure and pushed the offending calculator away from him.

Quatre chuckled. "I thought you said you wanted one."

"I said I needed one," clarified Trowa, shaking his head slowly. He crossed his arms above his chest. "I'm happy with my exotic, calculator-free ways."

With a smile, Quatre picked up his pencil and turned back to his companions to continue his work.

Trowa glared at the students who were staring at him again and then turned his eyes back to the book. "That's it," he grumbled. "Next time, Quatre, you are coming with me to the Literature garden." Trowa heard Quatre chuckle so he added, "And bring your Latin dictionary. You're going to need it."

* * *

The End - 


End file.
